Stropper.



' w. J. FRANCIS.

STROPPER.

APPUCATH) 1915- 1 1 89,555, Patented July 4, 1916.

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WILLIAM JAMES FRANCIS, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

STROPPER.

Application filed January 18, 1915.

1'") all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WVILLIAM J. FRANCIS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inStreppers; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, andexact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, which form part of this specification.

This invention is a novel device for stropping razor blades and thelike, being especially adapted for stropping so-called safety razorblades of various kinds, and it provides a simple novel device wherebysafety razor blades can be conveniently stropped after the manner inwhich a barber strops an ordinary razor, thus enabling the owner to usesuch blades for months, whereas ordinarily such blades quickly becometoo dull for use and have to be thrown away, as the ordinaryresharpening process destroys the temper of such blades and renders themworthless.

The invention consists in the novel construction of the stropperillustrated in the accompanying drawings and hereinafter described indetail; the essential features thereof being summarized in the claims.

In said drawingsFigure 1 is a perspective view of the stropper inposition for stropping a razor blade on astrap. Fig.2isa longitudinalsection through Fig. 1. Fig.

3 is a detail perspective view of the blade holding member. Fig. 4 is adetail section on line 8-S, Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is an enlarged detailsection on line 99, Fig. 4:. Fig. (3 is a detail view of one type ofdetachable blade holding device. Fig. 7 is a detail view of another typeof safety razor blade.

The stropper comprises a frame preferably made of sheet metal and havingvertical parallel side portions 1 connected at top and ends by crosspieces 1; and from the inner edge of cross pieces 1 rise ears 1 by whichthe stropper can be manipulated. The sides 1 may be braced. by crossrods 1 attached thereto beneath bars 1 as shown in the drawings.

The upper edges of the side portions 1 may be provided with centralupstanding parts 1 in which are formed bearings or openings for thereception of the trunnions of a pair of parallel rollers 2, 2 and an1ntermediate shaft 3. The said shaft carries Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented July at, 1916.

Serial No. 2,843.

a pinion 3 at one end which meshes with pinions 2 on the adjacent endsof the rollers 2 so that when the rollers are turned in either directionthe shaft will be turned in the opposite direction.

Connected to the outer end of the shaft 3 are the arms l of anoscillating yoke bar 4 which is provided with a blade holder 5preferably composed of a piece of strip metal bent upon itself and overthe bar at so as to form a pair of parallel lips projecting from theouter side of the bar and adapted to embrace a blade or blade holdingdevice, hereinafter referred to and hold such blade perpendicular to thebar 4 and in a plane radial to the shaft 3. The holder 5 may be securelypositioned on the bar t by having the opposite sides of the bar slightlyrecessed as at 4: and bending the plate 5 over the recessed portion ofthe bar as shown in Fig. 3 thus preventing longitudinal displacement ofthe holder 5 on the bar, while the ends 5 of the holder project slightlybeyond the recessed portions 4 and prevent the holder slipping inwardlyoff the bar. The holder is thus securely locked to the bar when bentthereover as shown.

The ends of the bar l may be provided with projecting portions 4- whichare adapted to counterbalance the weight of the holder 5. Said holder isadapted to receive and hold razor blades of various types, the bladesbeing readily insertilole and removable from the holder whenthelatter'is in a perpendicular position. For instance, a blade like thatindicated in Fig. 7 can be slid endwise into the holder 5, and can beremoved therefrom in the same manner. WVhen a thin blade 9 is to bestropped, an auxiliary holder 7, such as shown in Figs. 1 and 6, may beemployed. Such holder can be inserted or removed endwise from holder 5in the same manner that blade 8 can be inserted or re- 1 When thestropper is moved tothe left, as indicated in full lines in Fig. 2, thefriction 'on rollers 2 causes them to rotate to the sented to thesurface of the strap as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The greaterthe downward pressure exerted upon the stropper the more effectively theblade is stropped,,and the edge of the blade is sharpened exactly like abarber strops a razor blade.

What I claim is:

1. In a razor stropping device the combination with a frame adapted tobe placed upon and reciprocated along a strap; of a transverselydisposed roller and shaft journaled in the sides of said frame, andgearing between said shaft and roller, a yoke connected with said shaftand spanning the roller and adapted to be swung back and forth accordingto the rotation of the roller,

a blade holder attached to said yoke, and

an auxiliary blade holder adapted to be de tachably engaged with theaforesaid blade holder, substantially as described.

2. A stropping device comprising a frame adapted to be placed upon andreciprocated along a strap, a roller and shaft journaled in said frame,gearing between said shaft and roller; a yoke rigidly attached to theends of said shaft and spanning the roller, and a blade holder attachedto said yoke and lying in a plane radial of the shaft, said yoke havinga counterbalance attached thereto to counterbalance the weight of saidholder, substantially as described.

3. r In a razor stropping device the combination with a frame adapted tobe placed upon and reciprocated over a strap; of trans versely disposedrollers, journaled in said frame, a, shaft intermediate the rollers,gearing between said shaft. and rollers, a yoke bar connected with saidshaft and spanning the rollers and adapted to be swung back and forthover said rollers according to the rotation of the latter, and a bladeholder comprising a metal plate bent over said yoke the opposite ends ofthe plate forming lips adapted to hold a blade, substantially asdescribed.

4. A stropping device comprising a frame stamped out of metal havingdepending sides connected by cross bars the latter being provided withupstanding ears, a pair of rollers journaled in said side membersintermediate the said ears, a shaft journaled in the side piecesintermediate the said ears, intermeshing pinions on said shaft androllers; a yoke rigidly attached to the ends of said shaft and extendingacross the frame, and a blade holder attached to said yoke and lying ina plane radial of the shaft and counterbalanced on the ends of saidbearing.

5. In a razor stropping device the combi nation with a bar having arecessed central portion; of a blade holder composed of a piece of metalbent upon and over said recessed portion of the bar so as to engage saidrecessed portion of the bar to prevent its longitudinal movement on suchbar, said plate having its forward ends extending beyond the recessedportion of the bar so as to prevent disengagement of the holder from thebar.

6. A stropping device comprising a frame, a pair of rollers journaled insaid frame, a shaft journaled in the frame intermediate the said ears,intergeared pinions .on said shaft and rollers, a yoke rigidly attachedto the ends of said shaft and extending parallel therewith and spanningthe rollers, a

blade holder comprising a metal plate bent over said yoke so as to lieradially of said shaft, and the opposite ends of the plate forming lipsadapted to retain a blade.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I affix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

, WILLIAM JAMES FRANCIS- Witnesses H. B. ROBBINS, V C. S. TAGGART.

copies of this patent may be dbtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner 0! Patents, Washington, D. G.

